


Kara Zor-el, lion foster carer

by Morningstar96



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Drunk Lena is soft and wants to be cuddled, F/F, Fluff, Romance, big cats!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 19:32:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16582691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morningstar96/pseuds/Morningstar96
Summary: Just some Supercorp fluff. Kara ends up becoming an in-between foster parent for illegally traded big cat cubs, Lena gets drunk and crashes at Kara's apartment, and general fluff ensues





	Kara Zor-el, lion foster carer

 

‘Supergirl, darling, I don’t think that’s-

It was too late; Kara, being impulsive and invulnerable, was already patting the lioness.

Lena’s breath caught in her throat and her nerves flared up with alarm. Intellectually, she knew full well that Kara couldn’t be hurt. That was one reason she’d accepted the revelation of the fact that Kara was, in fact, Supergirl. Lena had initially been embittered and angry in the face of Kara’s dishonesty, but when she’d cooled down, she felt nothing but relief in the fact that her best friend, the love and light of her life, was literally unbreakable in almost all circumstances. Certainly, Kara was perfectly safe with a hundred-and-fifty kilo big cat with claws like curved daggers and bone-crushing teeth.

But it was still nerve-wracking to watch as Kara stroked the lioness’s neck, the big cat’s head huge and powerful even against Kara’s strong frame. Lena shivered. She could easily imagine Kara as a lioness, her unthinkable strength radiating through her as she lifted giant objects and hurled her enemies through the air, her easy grace as she patrolled National City…

Lena could feel that raw strength every time Kara hugged her- and could tell that Kara was holding back, that any physical exertion she showed was more from the effort of actually controlling her strength than in the actual physical strain of whatever she happened to be doing. Once, Lena had almost passed out when Kara picked up a pair of fifty-kilo dumbbells and proceeded to handle them like she was lifting a couple of potatoes.   

She watched Kara now with a confusing blend of fear and awe as the superhero sank to her knees, allowing the lioness to press her head into chest. Lena could feel the cat’s rumbling purr even from here, a deep thunder that shook her bones. It was such a strange sight, seeing Kara in full Supergirl regalia bonding with a lioness, yet the image was so very fitting: two endlessly powerful and dangerous creatures treating each other with the utmost respect and gentleness. Lena took out her phone and began snapping photographs, determined to capture the unreality of the situation. James was taking photos several feet away with a CatCo crew; Lena kept taking her own photos, but decided to check out James’ later. Maybe she’d ask if he could frame a particularly good shot of Kara and the lioness, and she’d hang it over her bed. Would that be weird? _That would probably be weird._

‘Lena, look!’ Kara said, her face splitting into that sunshine smile that had always turned Lena into instant putty. ‘She likes me!’

The lioness was butting Kara affectionately, allowing Kara to wrap her arms around the beast’s muscle-bound neck and hug her. Lena took another photo, smiling despite herself. Surely, even a Luthor was allowed appreciate how sweet this was.

They were drawing in a very sizeable crowd. Almost everyone visiting National City Zoo had migrated to the Big Cat exhibits to watch Supergirl gambol with the resident lioness; she heard the sounds of eager cameras and hushed, excited voices and the squeals of delighted children all around, but Lena had eyes only for Kara.

She remembered vividly how this all started.

A week ago, they’d had one of their regular movie nights (since when had that become a thing? Lena wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want it to stop), and when they finished the movie they switched back to the TV and happened across a documentary set in Africa. The camera crew had taken to following a pride of lions, and after swooning over the lion cubs, Lena suggested they check if the local zoo had any of the big cats. Kara, having just learned that lions are social animals who need other lions to stay happy, had been appalled to find that the zoo had a single lioness. Lena had gone home with a strange feeling in her stomach- like Kara was going to do something ridiculous.

Sure enough, when they met for their brunch the next day (their brunches were becoming almost a daily thing now, but that didn’t mean anything- right?), Kara told her that she’d called the zoo as Supergirl and asked if she could visit the lioness in a public stunt meant to bring attention to the plight of lions out in the wild.

And now here they were. Kara was embracing the lioness, pressing their foreheads together in a peaceful gesture, and Lena thought her heart might melt, like it already hadn’t when she met Kara two years ago and was instantly disarmed by that goddamn smile.

Lena couldn’t help adjusting the angle of her phone in order to focus more clearly on Kara’s biceps, clearly visible through the skin-tight fabric of the super-suit. She had a clear profile of both of their heads, lioness and Kryptonian, each as beautiful and regal as the other. It truly was a meeting of queens.

And then a zookeeper approached them, whispered something in Kara’s ear, and led the hero to the back of the enclosure where they vanished through a door.

A minute later Lena got a text from Kara: _Don’t wait up for me. I’ll explain later, I promise. You go have fun and do what you need to do._ Followed by a retinue of emojis, of course.

Lena left the zoo with that strange feeling in her gut again.

 

For the first time in her life, Lena had finally accepted an invitation to the alien bar.

‘She’s coming!’ Kara said, unable to control her excitement. She immediately tried to tamp it down by _not_ jumping up and down, but nonetheless she earned an odd look from Alex.

‘About time,’ Alex said, amused, as she chose a pair of boots and regarded them thoughtfully. ‘Do you think she knows to dress casual, or will she turn up in her press-ironed business clothes?’

‘Does it matter? Lena looks good in everything,’ Kara said flatly. She’d meant to say it like she was merely uplifting her best friend, but she still ended up blushing. Well, it was true, she told herself defensively. Lena _did_ look good in everything. It was a simple, objective fact that everyone knew.

‘Uh-huh,’ Alex said, giving Kara an odd look.

‘You think I should wear this dress?’ Kara said quickly, suddenly eager to change the subject. She pulled up a light blue dress with lace tastefully applied at the hem and the chest area. 

‘Sure. Lena will love it.’

Kara remained mute, not sure what to say. Something in her seemed stuck; she wanted to give voice to the feelings she’d been holding in for weeks, possibly months now, but didn’t know where to begin.

She and Lena had grown a lot closer recently, seeing each other almost every day, texting each other constantly, to the point that Kara had been seeking any excuse to go to L-Corp, and had taken to inviting Lena for movie nights. Lena hadn’t said anything about the increased time spent around each other, so Kara figured, maybe this was just how female friends operate on earth. She’d never really bonded with other girls of her age when she was a child, so when she felt the urge to spend more time with Lena, and begun truly admiring her appearance and integrity and intelligence, she’d just assumed that maybe female friendships were naturally more intimate than platonic friendships between men and women. When she began having really intense sex dreams about Lena, she figured that maybe she just needed to find a one-night-stand or maybe buy a vibrator to ease her frustration, and that her dreams naturally turned to Lena because they’d been spending so much time together.

‘Alex?’ Kara’s voice was hesitant.

‘Mmm?’ Alex pulled on the boots, and regarded Kara with a raised eyebrow.  
‘How close do female friends usually get? Here on earth, I mean?’

Alex rose to her considerable full height, her face pensive. ‘That’s an interesting question, Kara. Women can become pretty close; a lot of men don’t give their girlfriends enough emotional attention, so women often turn to each other for that. That’s not unusual. And all kids form intense bonds with the same sex.’ She took a slightly shaky breath. ‘I might not be the best person to answer that, though. Looking back on it, a lot of my female friends have been crushes, though I didn’t realise it at the time. Why do you ask? Is this about Lena?’

Kara nodded. ‘Should I back off on the movie nights a bit? I’m still not sure how to act with a best friend, and I don’t wanna overstep any boundaries.’

‘She’s Lena Luthor,’ Alex reminded her. ‘If you overstep her boundaries, she’ll let you know, so it’s a safe bet that you can keep up with the movie nights. And, Kara…?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Lena’s been restricted and controlled by her family for most of her life. She’s probably thriving on your attention.’

They were distracted by a strange squeaking sound from the bathroom.

‘What was that?’ Alex said, immediately going into badass agent mode.

‘Nothing,’ Kara said quickly. ‘Let’s just get going.’

 

Being a Friday night, the bar was humming with a healthy amount of aliens and their human friends. The smell of alcohol was already infusing the air, and Kara was grateful, not for the first time, that she was unaffected by most alcohol and could pretty much drink as much as she wanted. She did sometimes worry about Alex, though; she was a purebred human, and seemed to get drunk more than was healthy. But it hadn’t yet stopped her from going to work or start dating again after the Maggie break-up, so Kara was pretty confident that an intervention wasn’t yet necessary.

‘Kara! Alex!’ called Winn, waving his arms where the group was stationed at their usual booth. James, Sam and Nia were already there, the table supplied with a jug of iced fruit cocktail that made Kara realise just how thirsty she was.

‘Hi!’ Kara said, sliding onto the seat with Alex beside Sam. She surreptitiously took note of Alex’s fiercely blushing face when she was pressed up against Sam.

_They have to get together,_ she thought, hearing the heart rates of both women speed up as they greeted each other. She caught Winn’s eye. Winn, now familiar with Alex’s behaviour around her crushes, swapped a devious glance with Kara, and they came to a silent agreement to somehow get Sam and Alex alone tonight.

‘I heard Lena’s coming?’ Nia said hopefully, her face as eager and open as ever. She’d been in awe of Lena since she’d moved to National City, and had almost fainted when Kara casually told her that they were best friends. So naturally, Kara had taken to bringing Nia along to some of her errands to L-Corp; as her mentor, Kara had figured it was good for Nia to get an inside view into a major corporation like L-Corp, and Lena- apparently delighted that Kara had a mentee- had taken an instant shine to the prospective young journalist.

‘Yeah, she is,’ Kara said, already glancing at the bar door as she poured herself a generous glass of cocktail. ‘I hope her driver remembered the address…’

‘Does this place even have an address? Or is it off the books? ‘Cause I’m not sure if alien bars are actually legal,’ Winn frowned.

Kara shrugged, and glanced at the door again.

‘You keep jerking your head like that, and it’ll fall off,’ Alex muttered into her ear. Kara noted with interest that she was pouring Sam a glass of cocktail, and that their hands brushed as she slid it over. Sam murmured a shy thanks.

Kara flushed. ‘I’m just excited. Lena hasn’t been here before, it’ll be fun.’

Finally the door opened again, and a subtle hush fell over the bar. Kara almost didn’t recognise her at first, but then her eyes adjusted, and there was no mistaking that sharp jawline, or the fierceness of her light green eyes.

_‘Nice,’_ Alex said approvingly, eyeing the CEO up and down.

Lena was wearing a plain white shirt beneath a black leather jacket. Her hair was down in loose waves, and she wore skinny jeans and knee-high boots. Kara’s heart seemed to stutter at the sight of Lena like this. She looked utterly confident and in control, absolutely _oozing_ an aura of sultry aloofness.

‘Lena Luthor in casual bikie dress. Now I’ve seen everything,’ Sam said, admiring her boss from afar.

Kara wanted to say something- she was always saying something, after all- but her voice seemed to have run off and left her. She felt a little breathless, in fact, a condition that seemed to intensify when Lena caught sight of them and strode toward their booth. The crowd parted before her like the sea to Moses, and Kara couldn’t tear her gaze away. She finally remembered to breathe when Lena slid onto the seat beside her. It was becoming rather cramped now, and Lena’s extra body heat made even Kara feel strangely warm.

‘Hey,’ said Lena, her face softening as she smiled. She suddenly looked a little nervous, shy even, as everyone greeted her. Kara remembered what Alex had told her about Lena having her movements and social life restricted before moving to National City, and put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. Lena instinctively leaned into her, and Kara could have sworn she’d felt her breathe a sigh of relief.

The next half hour was spent in a typical fashion: warming up with catch-up chatter, ordering a round of drinks, and proceeding to play pool and a number of alcohol-related games. Sometimes karaoke was involved too, but there was no karaoke tonight. It turned out that Lena was pretty good at pool, and held a fierce match against Alex while the others decided to hang back and watch, unwilling to get too close to the blistering competition.

Eventually, Kara and Lena wound up at the counter, sitting on barstools and chatting idly like they usually did on their brunches. Kara was just catching Lena up on the leads she’d had to chase for her latest report when her stomach loosed a loud growl.

‘Can I offer dinner?’ Lena said, chuckling.

‘I- yes, please,’ Kara said meekly.

Ten minutes later, and Kara was wolfing down a giant pile of cheesy fries while Lena delicately ate her chicken salad. Meanwhile, they watched discreetly as Alex and Sam ghosted out of the bar; Kara was pretty sure they were holding hands, and she pointed it out to Lena.

‘Oh, I knew that would happen eventually,’ Lena chuckled, delicately wiping her mouth.

‘It’s good to see Alex letting herself move on properly.’

‘And I’m sure little Ruby will be delighted to find out that her favourite DEO agent and her mum are giving googly eyes to each other,’ Lena said gently, watching the pair with fondness. But beneath her pleased expression was a deep tiredness, and a wave of guilt suddenly hit Kara when she realised she’d asked Lena to join them after a long day full of board meetings at L-Corp.

‘So, how are you liking it?’ Kara said, gesturing to the bar at large.

‘It’s fun and a much-needed change of scenery, but after the day I’ve had, I can’t last much longer here. I’d rather be relaxing in a movie night with you, to be honest.’

Kara found herself flushing, yet glad that Lena had actually admitted her tiredness for once. ‘Well, I can take you home if you like, and we can pick a movie. Anything you want!’

Lena smiled gently again. ‘That would be wonderful, dear.’ Hesitation crossed her face again. ‘Do you mind if we go to your apartment again? I feel more comfortable there.’

The knowledge that Lena felt more comfortable in Kara’s apartment than in her own penthouse came as a bit of a shock to Kara, who loved the spacious interior and glossy marble of Lena’s place. But she managed to collect herself and say, ‘Sure. Let’s sneak out before anyone notices.’

 

Movie nights had grown increasingly intimate. Kara had initially assumed that it was because it was mid-winter now, and Lena just appreciated the excess body-heat produced by a Kryptonian, but she seemed even more cuddly than usual tonight- possibly because the excess of alcohol she’d consumed in the past hour. Kara automatically wrapped her arms around her friend when Lena crawled halfway onto her lap in a sort of soft, half-drunken stupor. Kara bit back the urge to cry; only with her did the powerful, relentlessly imperious CEO ever let her guard down like this. Having Lena’s warm weight in her lap was incredibly comfortable, but Kara still wasn’t sure of herself. Would it be okay to fully snuggle into her to rest her hands on her waist, to drop a kiss on her head like she very much wanted to?

The scent of Lena’s shampoo in her nose was oddly soothing and adrenalin-spiking at the same time, and Kara was finding it difficult to concentrate on the movie. Ten minutes later, she heard Lena’s heart rate and breathing begin to slow down; she’d fallen asleep, her head nuzzled into Kara’s chest, her legs tucked in so that she looked smaller than usual. Kara brushed a strand of black hair from Lena’s forehead, her heart almost convulsing at how vulnerable and adorable she looked right now. It was pretty much only Kara who got to see her like this, who got to see her in stupid fluffy pyjamas and old hoodies and no make-up, who got to see the soft, gentle expression Lena naturally assumed when she wasn’t projecting her various other public personas.

There was no way Kara would disturb her sleep, especially since she was drunk; neither could she let her wake up with a hangover on a couch. So she picked Lena up as gently as possible and carried her to her room to silently tuck her into the warm blankets. Deciding that Lena would definitely need some water when she woke up, she went to the kitchen to fill up a glass and set it on the bedside table on Lena’s side. By now, Lena had instinctively snuggled deeper into the blankets so that only a pale patch of her face could be seen.

It had been a long day and even Kara was tired now, so she slipped into bed and settled in for the night, falling asleep rather more quickly than usual with the comforting evenness of Lena’s breathing beside her.

 

Kara stirred awake. She cracked open an eye just of enough to determine that the sun was just rising, the grey light of dawn spreading over the city-view shown through the uncovered window.

She then realised what had alerted her into wakefulness. Lena was fully snuggled into her, her head buried in Kara’s neck, a leg between Kara’s thighs, her arms wrapped fully around her. Kara had never felt more extraordinarily comfortable in her life, but still- this was unusual. Even for them. How would a hung-over Lena react to finding that she’d wound up in this position?

And then she realised Lena was dreaming. REM sleep, Kara guessed, if her restless movements were anything to go by.

And apparently Lena sleep-talked, too. Or, rather… sleep- moaned? She was making breathy little pants and a mumbled continuation of _More, please, more,_ and her hips were subtly thrusting forward against Kara’s thigh _._

Kara’s face flushed red. Clearly, she was witnessing Lena in the grip of an inopportune sex dream.

‘Lena?’ She touched Lena’s shoulder, knowing that she should probably wake Lena up now. Kara didn’t judge her at all- it was perfectly natural to have sex dreams, and in most circumstances they were extremely pleasant- but she figured that Lena would be pretty embarrassed wake up like this, and that the quicker this was interrupted, the better off they’d be. Not that Kara was minding this at all. In fact, she felt her own body responding to Lena’s oneiric escapade, her every cell humming pleasantly in response to the frenetic sexual energy Lena was currently exuding.

_‘Kaaaarrrraaa,’_ Lena finally exhaled, her pelvis giving a final rough jerk before she released a soft breath.

Kara stared at her, her heart stuttering in shock.

_Okay. There’s a logical explanation. Maybe Lena just hasn’t had sex for a while and she’s frustrated and dreaming about the person she fell asleep on._

Yeah… that was pretty much what Kara told herself about her own dreams about Lena.

‘Lena,’ she said, more firmly this time, and Lena shuddered awake.

They stared at each other for a couple of moments in complete silence. And then Lena’s face fell as she remembered her dream.

‘Oh, god,’ she said, voice thick with embarrassment and the pain of an impending hangover. She untangled herself from their embrace as quickly as possible, her face turning red. ‘Did I just…?’

‘It’s okay,’ Kara assured her. ‘It happens sometimes. Even to me.’

Lena ran a trembling hand through her mussed-up hair. ‘I’m so sorry, Kara, that was- that was out of line. I’ll, uhm… grab a coffee?’

Kara nodded. ‘Coffee would do you good,’ she agreed.

‘Unless you just want me to leave?’ Lena sat at the edge of the bed now, clearly battling between a nasty headache and the desire to make amends for her perceived wrong. ‘I can leave if you’re uncomfortable.’

‘No, don’t you dare leave. Not until the hangover’s gone,’ Kara said firmly, pushing off the blankets and rising from the bed. ‘Come on, we’re making pancakes and coffee and having a proper Saturday morning.’

Lena was still mute and subdued when they started milling around the kitchen and preparing stuff for the pancakes.

‘Lena?’ Kara said gently, sliding over a steaming mug of the black coffee she knew Lena liked to order. ‘How’re you feeling?’

‘Ashamed.’

‘Don’t be. It’s perfectly normal- it just, uh, happened to have happened while you were sleeping over. Which is fine. Nothing to be ashamed of.’

Lena was silent for moment while she took a sip of coffee. ‘Did I say anything?’

Kara blushed again when she poured the pancake batter into the pan. ‘You said my name.’

Lena groaned. ‘God, I’m so sorry.’

‘Lena, trust me. It’s okay.’

‘I… need to go to the bathroom.’

‘Okay. You want choc chips in your pancakes?’

Lena gave her the strangest look. ‘Kara, you don’t have to keep doing this.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Taking care of me, being… _you._ If you need some space, if I made you uncomfortable, you can just say so.’ She blushed again. ‘Best friends don’t normally wind up in each other’s arms like that and…’

Kara put her hand on Lena’s shoulder. ‘Look at me. Go use the bathroom, and we’ll have pancakes and talk. Okay?’

‘Okay.’

Lena left the kitchen. Kara’s stomach growled as the smell of cooking pancake batter filled the kitchen, and she grabbed a plate on which to pile the pancakes.  A minute later she heard the tell-tale sound of vomiting, and then the toilet flushing; then came the sound of Lena thoroughly washing out her mouth under the tap, and then squeaking in surprise as she found what Kara had been keeping in the bathtub; and then Lena eventually shuffled back into the kitchen, a small ball of tawny fur mewling in her arms.

‘Kara, darling, you have a lion cub sleeping on a pile of pillows in your bathtub,’ she said blearily. She’d changed into one of Kara’s old band shirts, and looked so stupidly adorable that Kara had to physically resist the urge to kiss her silly right there and then. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have let you in the zoo.’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Kara said, flipping the first couple of pancakes onto the plate. ‘The zookeeper told me that there’s a black market in illegal big cat trading in National City, and that they need foster carers to look after rescued cubs until the zoo can transfer them to qualified big cat sanctuaries. They wanted me as a volunteer, so, uh, they gave me a lion cub,’ she finished lamely, pouring more batter into the freshly empty pan. She was impatient to start eating, but she knew from years of experience that it was worth making at least two dozen pancakes before she even thought about eating anything.

She turned back and found Lena staring at her, the lion cub now nestling into her neck and purring loudly. There were tears in her eyes.

‘Lena?’ Kara said nervously.

‘You’re too good for this world, Kara.’

Something in Kara melted at the sight of Lena and the mewling cub clinging to each other for dear life. Kara flipped the next pancakes onto the plate, poured in more batter, and made her way slowly to Lena. Lena glanced down, apparently still expecting some kind of backlash for what had happened earlier, and stiffened in surprise when Kara pulled her into a hug. Then Lena melted into the embrace, and rested her head on her shoulder. The cub squeaked with delight at the extra warmth; when Kara moved her hand to rest on Lena’s shoulder, the cub began suckling her thumb.

‘She’s hungry,’ Lena noted, chuckling at the strange sight.

‘Yeah. I fed her in the middle of the night, but she needs lots of meals in small amounts at this stage. Uhm, would you mind feeding her while I finish off the pancakes? There’s a special formula in the fridge she drinks.’

‘Of course.’

Lena extricated herself from the hug, murmuring quietly to the cub as she dug in the fridge for the formula. She sat on the kitchen counter, her lap full of baby lion, and sung a gentle song in some strange tongue Kara didn’t recognise as she bottle-fed the cub. Kara tried to remember to breathe as she flipped more pancakes, silently floored to hear Lena speak another language. She suddenly recalled one of their brunches months ago, when Lena had revealed that her birth mother had been Irish, and that she’d been learning the language since her senior year at high school in an attempt to feel closer to her non-Luthor heritage.

Goosebumps ran down her arms when Lena hit a particularly high, lilting note. And then the lullaby was over, and Kara started breathing properly again.

‘That was beautiful,’ she said shakily, trying to keep her hands steady as she piled the plate with more pancakes.

‘Thanks,’ said Lena slowly, stroking the cub as she suckled hungrily. ‘I learned that one a few weeks ago when I heard it on YouTube. It sounded familiar. I think my mother might have sung it to me, when I was very little…’

Kara took a steadying breath. ‘Do you remember much about her?’

Lena frowned thoughtfully. ‘No, not really; I was too young. I don’t have clear memories as such, but I have some vague impressions that I managed to bring to the surface. Lilian never liked me asking about my mother, see, so it wasn’t until I was older that I really started trying to remember her.’

A deep shudder ran down Kara’s body. She knew with a visceral intimacy the horror of losing your mother. But at least Kara’s mother had turned up alive, after being thought dead for so many years; Lena’s mother had been well and truly dead before Lena could even get to know her properly.

She was also resisting a powerful urge to throw down Lilian Luthor for making Lena, to this day, feel continually unvalued and confined. But Lilian was in prison now, so there was not much she could do that Lilian wasn’t already suffering.

‘Lena, I’m so sorry. Do you… do you know where she’s buried, at least? Maybe we could visit her grave.’ Kara waited breathlessly, not sure how Lena would take the idea.

Lena raised her head slowly, her eyes still clouded with hangover pain and the thoughts of her lost family. ‘Mullingar, in County Westmeath,’ she said. ‘That’s what Lilian told me. I haven’t been there yet, what with rebuilding L-Corp and not being a fan of planes and all, but I do want to visit once everything’s settled.’ She glanced back up Kara uncertainly. ‘Are you serious about accompanying me there?’

Kara nodded devoutly. ‘Of course! You don’t have to be alone while visiting your mother’s grave for the first time. Besides, you deserve a holiday far away from National City.’

By the time they got the giant stack of pancakes onto the kitchen island, Lena was looking marginally better. She had the now-sleepy cub stretched languidly over her shoulders; she pulled a couple of pancakes onto her plate while Kara proceeded to eat three at once, all of them drenched in honey.

‘I _could_ just fly you there myself,’ Kara said, after swallowing a huge bite. ‘It’ll be a lot quicker, and you won’t have to bother with boarding passes and all.’

‘I might just take you up on that offer,’ Lena said seriously. ‘But what about luggage?’

Kara shrugged. ‘Wing it and backpack?’

Lena nodded. She kept eating her pancakes with a healthy vigour, which indicated that she’d gotten most of the hangover nausea out of her system, and a comfortable silence filled the apartment.

‘Kara?’ Lena’s voice was careful, probing. ‘Are you entirely sure you’re okay with what happened earlier?’

‘I’m fine. It just happens sometimes, and it’s nothing to feel bad about.’

‘About your best friend, though? That’s _unusual.’_

Kara decided there was one sure-fire way to ease Lena’s apprehension. But she wasn’t sure if Lena’s dream was caused by a genuine attraction to her, or because Lena was frustrated and just happened to be dreaming of her because she’d fallen asleep on her. ‘Lena, I… I have those dreams, too. About you.’

She stuffed her mouth with pancake to stop herself from rambling like she usually did when she was flustered, so that Lena would have space to absorb her words.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah.’ Kara ducked her head to hide her furious blushing. She knew it was time to reveal the depths of her feelings, to be a functioning adult by swallowing her pride and telling the truth. ‘Look, I- you’re not alone, okay? We’re close. We spend a lot of time together. And our brains do weird things in our sleep. And, uhm, I may want you as more than a friend.’

A strange tension bubbled in the air between them. Kara’s stomach knotted around her half-digested pancakes as she waited for Lena to say something- maybe tell her that this was a mistake, that she wasn’t interested. Finally, Lena rose from her seat and reached out a hand. Kara blinked in confusion, then accepted it; Lena pulled her up, and then both of their hands were entwined, and Kara was completely fixated on those clear green eyes. Hope bloomed in her chest when Lena smiled.

‘We’re idiots, aren’t we?’ Lena said, tentatively rubbing her thumb over the back of Kara’s right hand. The cub, still resting on the CEO’s shoulders, blinked at them both with bright interest.

‘Yeah, we really are.’ Kara released a nervous laugh and put her hand on Lena’s cheek, caressing the sharp bone there. ‘Can I kiss you?’

‘Yes! But I might want to brush my teeth first… I did vomit before, after all…’

Kara leaned in and rested her forehead against Lena’s sternum, drinking in her scent. A giddiness rose through her as Lena held her close, stroking her hair with elegant fingers with one hand while resting the other on Kara’s lower back. Kara nuzzled into her, chuckling when she felt the cub paw curiously at her head. ‘Okay. I got a new toothbrush you can use.’

Ten minutes later found them both on the couch, Kara straddling Lena’s lap and kissing each other into a giddy stupor. Their body heat mingled, their fingers ran deliciously through each other’s hair, and Kara gave tiny groans of pleasure when their tongues twined. Lena’s hand was warm on the back of her neck and they couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. Months, maybe two full years of mutual attraction was finally being indulged, and there was no stopping them.


End file.
